Palm Lines
by zxmneu
Summary: The battle against the demons is coming to an end but it is still too early for the mages to celebrate. One of Face magical devices had managed to be activated for a short time, threatening the lives of all mages. At the right time and place, Lucky Lucy risks herself to help rewrite history despite the unknown consequences. What happens when things dont go as planned? TimeTravelAU.
1. Prologue

Palm Lines | Chapter 1: Prologue

 **Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

* * *

The smell of blood hit her senses – who's blood was it, she wasn't sure. The adrenaline pumped rapidly through her system. The ground's a mixture of ashes and the debris of broken buildings. Her eyes trained down as her legs trudged through the ruins on their own. Her heart pounded furiously against her chest, the sound coursing through her head sounded almost deafeningly painful. It had been moments ago when a bright light set off into the sky, followed by screeching screams that pierced through the air.

Her eyelids heavy as she glanced ahead at the towering building her family called home, or at least what was left of it. Her eyes briefly darted towards a nearby flag, tattered and slightly buried under fragments of rocks. Gathering whatever left of her strength, she dragged herself to the wooden doors of the building.

Warren, the telepathic mage of her guild had called for an assembly at the guild's basement, further directing her towards another apparently secret underground beneath it. Initially, she was with a small group of her guild mates. When they began their way towards the guild, they had tumbled upon a few of the Magnolia residents. Some of them scarcely injured. She insisted that her friends go on without her, saying that the assembly must be related to defeating Face. Plus, her celestial spirits and herself would be sufficient enough to bring the locals to safety – a short walk to the outskirts of Magnolia Town. She could see their slight hesitant at letting her go alone, but she reassured them that she would catch up with the group as soon as possible. They parted ways then, with Lucy changing her course of direction to the right.

She gently laid her hand against the door before sending it a push; the door eerily creaked as it slowly flung open.

It was when she had finally managed to send off the locals away that from a distance, a few bright lights vertically shot into the air, deliberately sending Lucy onto her knees as pain coursed through her body. It was no doubt the work of Face as she felt a twinge in her magic reserve. It ended seconds later, when dragons flew through the sky and demolished all 3,000 of the magical devices. The pain in her body dissipated, only leaving her with a slightly below average magic reserve and an exhausted body.

Standing before the slightly ajar entrance, a shiver ran through her body as raw wind swept through the air. The bits pieces of ashes it carried stung her eyes, only for it to be countered when a sudden downpour welcomed itself into the world. Her eyes darted towards the gloomy sky, allowing droplets of rain to painfully kiss her cheeks. The unsteady yet quick impact of the downpour drummed against the ground. The sound blurred into one long, whirring noise. It made Lucy shut her eyes as the rain reminded her of a certain blue-haired water mage. She frantically shook her head, not wanting her mind to dwell into the thoughts of what horrors had caused the said mage to release the rainfall.

The dragons had once again, let silence filled the air. Lucy took no favor with the silence as it only made rooms for her negativity to fill her mind, but nonetheless grateful for the dragons' help in the battle. Igneel had appeared earlier on when she was still with Natsu, but she had barely seen him when they parted ways. The fire dragon's appearance reassured Lucy that the other dragons in the sky meant good – she suspected them being the rest of the Dragon Slayers' dragons. Picking herself up, she turned her way back towards the guild. She had promised to catch up with her friends, after all.

She slowly walked into the empty building, taking in the guild's state. The walls were barely standing and the floor littered with debris. It was a wreck. Her pace quickened as her gaze picked up a staircase on her left. The structure was slightly different from what she remembered. The descending steps she took sent her into a narrowed, pitched-black walkway. A sharp pain speared through her body, forcing her hands against the cold, stone wall as she shakily gasped for air, her momentarily halt allowed the wall to support her weight. One after too many deep breaths later, she narrowed her eyes into the darkness and continued to make her way through. Her trek felt like ages as the empty darkness gave her little sense of time.

A soft glow illuminated the darkness in the distance. Lucy quickened her pace in an attempt to close the distance, inwardly groaned in desperation to end her expedition as soon as possible. She stumbled forward when the wall vanished against her hands. Her eyes winced as the bright light blinded her before slowly regaining her vision once again.

A gasp escaped her lips as a giant lacrima greeted her sight. It towered over her, almost reaching the ceiling of the room. What caught her attention was actually the little girl that stood frozen in the giant crystal. Her long wavy blonde hair hovered in the crystal, reaching just down to her feet. The serene look her face held sent a shiver down Lucy's back as she realized who exactly the little girl in the crystal was – It was none other than the first master of her guild, Mavis Vermillion. Lucy's heart thumped aggressively against her chest as the adrenaline swallowed any hint of her weariness.

"Lucy!" a voice echoed through the room.

The voice snapped her from her train of thought as she looked around for the source. Her gaze met with a surprised look of a similar girl in the crystal. Lucy furrowed her brows in confusion at seeing two of the same girl. "F-First Master?"

The girl in pink flowy dress got up on her feet and clenched her fists. "There's not much time to explain everything. There is something we must do," Mavis said with full of determination.

Lucy was about to nod in understanding before a sharp pain tugged at her heart. The sudden ache blurred her vision, sending her to her knees.

Mavis frantically ran towards the blonde and kneeled beside her. "Lucy? What's wrong?!" she asked, placing a hand behind her back.

Her breathing ragged as she tried to take in deep breaths. "I-I was a little further away from t-the… light.." she wheezed before continued slowly, "b-but Face… it.. s-still somehow got to me.." Her eyes briefly glanced at the First Master before darting it back to the ground, attempting to focus on her breathing again.

"I see.. Where are the others?"

A moment passed before the celestial mage had finally regained her consciousness after taking in forceful breaths. She glanced up and furrowed her eyebrows, "Others? What do you mean? They're not here yet?"

Her green eyes widened in surprised before she gently shook her head. "They must have been caught with Face as well," she grimly said.

Silence filled the air as the two tried to apprehend their situation. Memories played through their minds before Lucy shot up and frantically look around the room for her fatherly figure. Her eyes landed on an old man sitting against the wall at the corner of the room. She swiftly got up on her feet, stumbled slightly, and made her way to his side. He wore an agonized look, eyes shut and lips twisted in pain. She kneeled beside him and wiped away the sweats that had formed on his forehead. "T-this area was affected by Face too?!" Lucy directed the question to Mavis in a panic.

"So it seems," she answered and walked towards the two mages on the ground. "Come Lucy, there is something we must do."

The blonde mage darted her attention back to the first master, ushering her to continue.

Mavis nodded in appreciation at the requited attention. Her eyes glanced towards the giant lacrima in the room and spoke up. "Lucy... this is Lumen Histoire, or in its other name – Fairy Heart." Her attention went back to the celestial mage before breaking the brief silence. "It is a source of infinite magic."

She widened her chocolates eyes in a mixture of what seemed like in shock or surprise. Before she could utter a word, Mavis cut her to it, diving into an explanation. "It would take quite some time to explain the history of it, so I will just leave it for some other time. Although the dragons had managed to aid us in destroying all 3,000 devices of Face, a few of the magical weapons had managed to be activated for a few seconds. It seems that quite the number of mages have been affected by it. Not only that, it has caused the Ethernano in the air to be in a state of imbalance and within a short time, the Ethernano will soon go into a frozen state. The reproduction of magic particles in the air will halt," she briefly paused, making sure that her guild member had caught up with the information. Lucy merely nodded in hesitation, but it was enough of a sign to usher the First to continue.

"While the fight with Tartaros is coming to an end, albeit in our favor, most mages will greatly suffer because of the limited Ethernano in the air. There is a huge possibility that only lacrimas or object-based magic will be the only source of magic left in Earthland. However, with time, magic will still eventually vanish from this world – any form alike.

It will quite become a similar situation like Edolas, only with an added consequence – the thousands deaths of mages," she explained, letting out an exasperated sigh. She walked towards her child and squatted down. Her green eyes met with large brown eyes as she studied her face. "Lucy.." she whispered, taking a deep breath, she continued, "I need you to do me a favor. I have discussed about it with the Third not long ago, and although we do not wish to have you carry such a huge burden, my calculations told me that this will give us the best possible chance in surviving this… tragedy."

Mavis tore her gaze away and hanged her head low. "With Lumen Histoire and a powerful time spell: Last Ages, we will eradicate this timeline, simultaneously sending someone back into the past. The extent to how far time would rewind is unfortunately uncontrollable. However, with the natural link between Fairy Heart and Fairy Tail, it is very likely that one will reach back into a period where the connection between the host and the guild still exists. I would have casted the spell on myself, but it simply does not work on my thought projection or my frozen body.

It has never been done in this way before, and there is no guarantee that changing the past will be able to defy today's destiny. But…" she trailed off into silence.

Lucy mindfully blinked, taking in the huge information. Her mind slightly ached - from the effect of Face or the information dump, she wasn't sure. Regardless, she managed to give the First a warm smile, already understood her role in this situation. "-but we won't know until we've tried. Isn't that right First Master? She continued.

Mavis nodded her head before returning her gaze. "We cannot afford to lose any more precious time, which brings me to my next question..." she shakily took in a breath and continued, "would you press the reset button?"

The celestial mage gently shook her head, lips still curled into a soft smile. "Do you even have to ask, First? I'm apart of Fairy Tail, aren't I? I would drop everything if it meant to save our family, more so now that the end of magic is near."

The solemn look on her face was quickly replaced when her lips trembled and tears started to flood her eyes. "L-Luucy~!" she wailed childishly as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"M-Master Mavis…" the celestial mage sweat dropped.

Her crying quickly subdued to a few quiet sniffles. "R-right," she wiped away her snort and continued, "I'll p-prepare the spell right away," She wiped the rest of her tears away and took a step back from the blonde mage. Her green eyes fluttered shut and her lips moved softly in a chant. A slow glow appeared in front of her, followed by a magic circle on the ground.

Lucy remained seated on the ground, unmoved ever since the First had dived into an explanation of the situation. She wasn't exactly sure what to make of the situation, but if the guild needed her, she would do all she can to make things right. She just hoped the plan will work.

A groan from the corner of the room broke the silent atmosphere, causing the two blondes to snap their attention to a certain Wizard Saint sitting against the wall. "L-Lucy.. First.. wait.." he muttered in pain, an eye slightly peeked open at them.

Mavis twisted her lips into a scowl as she took a glance at him. "We have discussed about this, Third. Your longevity lifespan will pose a bigger risk on the new timeline," she sighed before her expression softened. "Nobody has reached here except for Lucy, and time is quickly running out. For now, Lucy stands with the greatest chance than any of us."

Master Makarov slumped in his seat, his face grim with the thought of letting one of his children bear a huge burden. Noticing his sour mood, she decided to comfort him. "Don't worry, Master. I'll be fine," she softly said, lips curled upwards.

He grunted in response before his eyes darted towards the celestial mage. He gathered his strength and tried to give her his warmest smile. "Come home safely, my child."

Her heart fluttered at his fatherly figure's words. _She really did join the best guild in Fiore._

"It is ready, Lucy."

She nodded at the voice and proceeded to get on her feet. Her eyes darted to the magic circle beneath her. Her face shone with determination, fueling the fire inside of her. She was ready to reset the timeline and rewrite it for the better. She could not afford to fail this mission. Face will be destroyed in time and Zeref's demons will pay for what they have done.

Mavis stared at the girl intently. From the time she had come to know this child, she had learned that her chocolate eyes shone brightly with courage. She wore her heart on her sleeves. Her gestures constantly full of love. She had never seen a fairy before, but she was sure that the celestial mage was as close to what a fairy can be. Needless to say, she was proud that such a light, one of the many, lived among Fairy Tail.

Her heart panged with guilt at the thought of sending her child back in time with such a huge burden. It was one of those times that she wished fairies could grant wishes, because if they could then a wish was all it need to stop this from happening. There were too many factors to make a concrete calculation, one being the unknown effects of the spell – using it to such an extreme extend with Fairy Heart, no one could predict just what may happen. For all she knows, her calculations could have backfired. There is no guarantee that changes in the past will ensure a different destiny. _What if destiny can't be changed?_ Or worst, she might actually be sending the child to her doom with the spell! She has always been confident with her calculations but this-

 _This_? -There were just simply too many factors involved!

"Master Mavis?"

The gentle voice broke her train of thought, her head snapped towards the voice. Her eyes met with a worried pair of chocolate eyes. She inwardly sighed. She would do her very best and leave the rest to the stars for they will surely look after the child. "Lucy… There is no way in knowing the exact consequences of using this spell with Fairy Heart. However, I assure you that the unlimited magic will at least help you retain your memories without causing any physical damage on your body or mind," she briefly clarified before continuing, "Now, once you wake up, I want you to go and find me, or at least my thought projection. I will attempt to make my way to the guild building but if you do not see me around for a few days, then I want you to trail after me in Tenrou Island. Ah, one more thing. Lumen Histoire is a sacred secret of Fairy Tail, so proceed with caution when you decided to finally confront the Third or anyone about it."

Lucy nodded, drilling the words into her head.

"You should be prudent with who you share your knowledge of the future with. There is a high probability that my memories will still be intact. Regardless, if you wake up as a child or just a day away from today, you must confront me as soon as possible. We will then talk about our next course of actions. The Third will know about it when the time is right. Promise me that you will _not_ go through this alone, Lucy. The burden is ours to share. We will work it out. _Together_."

A tear escaped her eye as her heart was touched by the First's words. Wiping away the tear, she once again nodded and smiled.

Mavis returned her smile, eternally proud of the child. She exchanged a look with the Wizard Saint before he gathered up his strength and walked towards the celestial mage.

"Lucy..." he briefly paused as he cleared his raspy throat, "Like branches on a tree, we all grow in different directions. Yet, our roots remain as one. We will always be the same, regardless with or without the knowledge of the future events. Fairy Tail lives as _one_ , and you will always be Lucy of Fairy Tail."

Her eyelashes brimmed heavily with tears, both in sadness and happiness. She didn't want to cry because she was still going to see her family again. She brought the back of her hands to her face, wiping away the tears. Her heart warmed at the sight of her two masters. "Got it, gramps!" she cheekily broke into a grin.

The two guild masters once again exchange a look before Mavis raised her hands, activating the magic spell.

"This is going to hurt just for a little while, Lucy."

The magic circle beneath her began to glow. The pain, slowly yet escalating, surged through her veins. It crackled her bones and her body shivered vigorously at the immense pain. She intensely shut her eyes and bit back the screams that threatened to escape from her lips. She wills herself to go through this pain; the thought of meeting her family again further fueled her inner strength.

Her eyes slightly fluttered open as she took a glance at her parental figures standing before her, ignoring the pain that followed. "I'll see you all soon," she whispered. With a determined nod at Mavis' direction, her eyes shut tightly as another wave of pain shot through her body.

"Go, my child. We will always be watching for you."

* * *

 **A/N:** **Hello, nice to see you too!**

 **This is my first fan fiction story and I'm very excited with what I have planned so far. This story is a time-travel, Lucy-centric story and sets after Tartaros Arc, and such characters' traits will be set accordingly (hopefully, if I don't mess up XD). When it comes to the retelling part, I will try to have the facts _(facts, not outcome)_ match as much as I can with the canon's, but this story will not center around just retelling as it extends to more than just the canon arcs. **

**Thank you for reading!**


	2. Broken Trails

Palm Lines | Chapter 2: Broken Trails

* * *

Her eyes shut tightly, brows furrowed together in pain. She fought off the bile that threatened to push forward from its rightful place. Her head pounded sharply and heavily. She could faintly hear voices at the back of her mind. She tried to remember just how she arrived at this strange, dark place where the world's very existence is to torture h-

Her eyes quickly fluttered open, only to be greeted by the sudden presence of light. _She remembered._ She chanted a silent prayer, hoping that the stars have mercy on her. It took her a few seconds to regain her vision but once she managed to see clearly, her attention snapped to the direction of the voice that broke her train of thought.

"Oh my, what was that?" an elegant voice sounded, lined with a hint of worry.

Her question was followed by murmurs nearby, but before she could make sense of the situation, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.

"Lucy? Are you okay?" the voice repeated.

Lucy's gaze moved towards the voice. Her heart skipped a beat, eyes wide in disbelief and mouth slightly hang out in the open. The voice came from a certain white haired lady, with a stamp in her grasp. Her worried look broke her trance, realizing what had caused the worry in her voice. Lucy was on her knees, one hand tightly wrapped around her stomach while the other held onto the wooden surface of a bar for support. She caught sight of the bright pink on her right hand and heaved gratefully once any hint of drowsiness was finally gone. Realizing that she's been gone for too long in her own thoughts, she snapped back her attention to the white haired girl. "Y-Yeah. I'm fine," she answered with a slight hue of pink tingling her cheeks as she hesitantly pulled herself together.

"Really? You don't seem too good a second ago.." She cautiously replied back, unconvinced with the blonde-haired mage's attempt at reassuring her worries.

After a few deep breaths, she finally composed herself and gave the girl in pink dress a warm smile. "I'm alright now, Mirajane."

The barmaid surprised at the sudden change, nonetheless relieved to see her back to her usual self, gave a hearty giggle. "Just Mira is fine," she replied with the same warm smile, "welcome to Fairy Tail, Lucy!"

Her face lit up and her eyes shone with happiness. She hasn't seen Mirajane ever since they left for the demons' lair. She broke into a wide grin and attacked the barmaid, engulfing her into a warm hug. "Mhm!" Lucy nodded as she beamed in happiness. She was glad that the spell had worked out and seeing her family safe and sound once again made a tear escaped from her eye.

Mira widened her eyes at the sudden affection before her lips curled up into a warm smile. Although she had only met the girl not too long ago, in fact not even up to an hour, this girl felt almost similar to her little sister – kind, sweet and sensitive. While they have their similarities, they were different in a lot of ways as well. Nonetheless, she decided then that she liked the warmth of this little bundle of joy and briefly returned the hug by wrapping her arms around the blonde mage. A short moment passed before both of them pulled away, faces still beamed in happiness. "Let me put away the guild mark stamp then I'll make you a smoothie! It's on the house," Mirajane said and gave her a wink before scrambling her way to prepare the promised drink.

Lucy smiled and sat on one of the bar stools. She finally managed to get some time alone to analyze her situation. Countless possible scenarios played through her mind like a broken record, before coming to the most plausible conclusion. She heaved a small sigh and turned her back to face the guild hall. She was way back to the past than she or the masters had expected. "I guess it's not really a bad thing. In fact, it made more sense since this was when I received my guild mark," she quietly mumbled.

She remembered this day fondly as her eyes scanned through the guild hall before landing on a certain pink haired mage. Her lips involuntarily curled into a wider smile. His eyes were scanning through the job request board, probably looking for a mission. Lucy then remembered what will eventually happen or at least she hoped so – they were going to go save Macao. ' _Alright, let's go do this again!_ ' Lucy thought.

Before she could make her way towards him, an immense pain shot through her body. Her hand swiftly flew towards her head, trying to massage away her headache. _No! Not now!_ Her eyes winced as the pain only intensified. She peered through her heavy eyelids at the pink haired mage across the room before her vision blurred. Just as rapid as the pain had arrived, the darkness similarly engulfed her consciousness in a millisecond. "N-Na…" she whispered before her body fell from her seat. Her body met the ground with a loud thud.

* * *

 _What the hell is with the pain?_ She inwardly groaned as she tried to flutter her eyes open. A soft material pressed against her back and a familiar smell of antiseptics shot through her senses. To verify her suspicion, she pushed her body up with an elbow, sending her in a sitting position.

Lucy looked around the room. Green curtains parted their ways for the windows on her right. The walls painted with the shade of white, similar to the colors of the beds in the room. _No doubt, I'm definitely in the guild's infirmary._ Her eyes continued to take in her surrounding before a wooden door on her left burst open, a blue feline flew in.

The cat widened his eye as he caught Lucy's gaze before he turned back and screamed for someone. Her brows scrunched inwards at the cat's odd behavior before a pink haired mage strolled in, the feline on his shoulder.

Surprised at their presence, Lucy shifted herself to a more comfortable sitting position on the mattress. "Natsu? Happy? What are you guys doing here?" she asked, slightly tilting her head at them.

Natsu stopped in front of her bed as he crossed his arms at his chest. He opened his mouth to speak before the cat cut him to it. "Mira asked us to check up on you," he replied.

"..more like she forced us," Natsu mumbled.

"Eh? What happened?" she asked.

"You don't remember?" He saw her shrugged shoulders and continued, "Well, whatever. You passed out at the bar. We had to carry you to the infirmary. This is the guild's infirmary, by the way."

"You're heavy, Lucy," Happy snickered. "And Mira made us stay with you in the infirmary for an hour. An hou _r!"_ He sighed dramatically at the end of his sentence.

She ignored his comment and furrowed her brows together, trying to recall her memories. _Guild. Stamp. Bar. Guild. Macao. Passed out. ...Macao?_ Her eyes widened and snapped her attention back to the boys. "How long has it been since I passed out?!" she asked, the hint of dread clear in her tone.

"Huh?" Natsu replied, confused at the urgency in her question. He shut his eyes tightly as he racked through his mind for an answer. "Mhm… Almost two hours, I guess. We went to get some food," he continued.

"Two hours?!" Lucy shrieked. She proceeded to kick off the duvet draped on her body and swing off her legs to the ground. She swiftly got on her feet but it only earned her another migraine. Her hand flew to her temple in an attempt to stop the swirling of her vision. "W-we need to go save Macao," she mumbled.

He frowned at the girl and exchanged a confused look with the feline on his shoulder. "Macao? Why would he need that?"

She took a deep breath, causing her headache to slowly fade away. She took her belt, whip and keys from the bed-side table and equipped them around her waist. "It's been a week since Macao's mission. It was only supposed to take three days and Romeo has been dead worried about it. You should go and talk to Romeo before he attempts to save his father by himself. I'll meet you at the guild's entrance before we head out for Macao. There's something I need to do in the guild first," she explained while heading out from the infirmary.

"How did you know?" Natsu asked in surprise before trailing after the blonde girl.

Lucy dismissed his surprise with a lazy wave. "I heard Romeo talking about it in the guild earlier," she lied. They stopped at their tracks once they reached the guild hall. "Go. I'll meet you guys here in a few minutes," she ordered.

"It would be faster if me and Happy go by ourselves," he complained, followed by a cheer from the feline.

She shot them a glare, her chocolate eyes held a dangerous glint. The boys straightened their postures and simultaneously shrieked out an 'aye' before scrambling their way to find Romeo. The corners of her lips involuntarily curled into a small smile as she shook her head at her two best friends.

It was different from what had happened in the old timeline. They were supposed to go save Macao after Lucy got her guild stamp but the _damn headache!_ She was out cold before she was even able to go through the same course of action as the previous timeline. She shouldn't change much of the timeline, at least not until she talked it out with Mavis. She sighed. She would need to pick up and fix her broken trails. She just hoped that Macao can hang on for a little longer and not get himself killed. She shook her head, refusing to let her mind wander into the worst case scenario. _Macao would be alright._ She nodded to herself – the positivity assuring her belief in her guild mates' capabilities.

 _Now…_ Her eyes scanned through the guild hall, looking for a certain girl with green eyes and a slight child-like build.

* * *

 **A/N: And that concludes the second chapter! Keep in mind that the events Lucy experienced up until Tartaros has allowed her to grow mentally so she will be portrayed as such - different from when she first joined Fairy Tail. I don't intend to make any of them OOC but i do have plans to further develop certain characters, especially Lucy. Thank you for reading so far! Hope you liked it.**


	3. Keys

Palm Lines | Chapter 3: Keys

Enjoy!

* * *

They have been walking through the snow for a while now, with Natsu and Happy leading the way. The walk was silent as Lucy debated with herself on her next course of action. She sighed and concluded that it would be better to finish things up quickly – she doubted it would change the outcome much. "What was Macao supposed to do here?"

"Romeo said he was supposed to take out twenty Vulcans." Natsu replied, before going into an explanation about the species and their habitat in Mount Haboke.

She hummed in understanding, letting a couple seconds of comfortable silence back into the atmosphere before Natsu shouted for Macao's attention.

A sigh escaped her lips as a Vulcan ambushed them, his eyes sparkled with excited at the sight of a woman. Now that Lucy thought about it, there weren't really much difference between the Vulcan and Macao. _Both of them picked up on girls. A lot._

The Vulcan reached out for Lucy but she easily dodged him. It growled in frustration and launched itself onto her but its attack was quickly countered when one of its cheeks met with a flaming fist.

Her eyes widened in surprise at the intervention, nonetheless grateful for the help. "Thanks, Natsu!" She took out a golden key from the side of her waist and summoned her celestial spirit. "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus!"

A moment passed and none of the ordinary appeared. Her muscles tensed at the silence. "Eh..?" She cleared her throat and repeated the chant but barely a glow appeared. Her heart beat furiously as she swiftly reached the keychain on her waist for a different key. "Open, Gate of the Giant Crab, Cancer!" Once again, her attempt was only met with silence.

Happy flew to her side and gave her a worried look. "What's wrong Lucy?"

"I-I can't use my keys…"

The Vulcan had started to attack the pink haired mage. Lucy briefly watched as the two exchanged blows with each other, sending bits of snow flying around. She shook her head and swallowed the bile in her throat. She would have to put aside her worries for now and help out her partner and Macao. "Macao, stop it!"

Natsu looked over his shoulder in bewilderment. "Are you crazy? That's obviously a Vulcan. Didn't you listen to a thing I said earlier?"

"Don't call me crazy," she scowled, albeit her cheeks slightly flushed at her silly attempt. "Just trust me. Don't hurt him too badly."

They continued to charge at each other before the Vulcan tripped over a rock that was hidden under layers of snow – it threw him off his momentum. Natsu saw through the opportunity and did a final blow to its gut; sending the monster flying over a distance. He broke from his fighting stance as the Vulcan landed unconsciously on the snow. Smoke momentarily covered the monster before it puffed away. What was initially a Vulcan on the ground was now replaced with an injured middle-aged man.

"Huh? Macao?!"

* * *

Lucy shuffled around her kitchen as she prepared dinner – the portion a little too much for a petite built like hers. Despite the extra time it took to stop by at the grocery store for some ingredients, she had still managed to snatch her apartment for the exact price of 70,000 jewels per month. Earlier that day, they had reunited Macao to his son in Magnolia before she parted ways with the whole group. Her heart swelled as she briefly watched the father-son reunion. She recalled the smiles that were plastered widely on their faces despite the tears that had dampened their cheeks. The scene in her head brought up the thought of her father. What will she do about the upcoming Phantom Lord attack? From her previous timeline, the attack had caused a lot of damage, but there were still some people that had benefited from it, not forgetting the new and improved guild building.

A screeching sound startled her before she reached out for the kettle, moving it away from the stove. She has a lot to think about and the fact that her keys – out of everything – had stopped working did not help ease her headache.

The sound of murmurs broke her train of thoughts as she peeked into her room. Her sight was greeted by a pink haired mage and a blue feline as they sneaked into her room through the window. The duo flopped themselves down unto the brown couch before they met her glance. "Yo, Lucy!" The boy said with a grin.

She sighed at the two. She had expected them to come by her apartment just like what they did in her previous timeline – which was what the dinner was for – but she had at least hoped they would do it as humanly as possible. "Natsu, Happy, the door is there for a reason. Use it," she mused and walked back into the kitchen.

Their voices were muffled by the curtain between the kitchen and her room. Nonetheless, she could still make out the words while she finished up in the kitchen.

"Something smells good here, Happy!"

"Aye! Lucy, are you making something?"

The pink haired mage peeked through the curtain while the feline flew towards the blonde haired mage and landed softly on her shoulder. "Great! We're starving," Natsu exclaimed excitedly.

She rolled her eyes at them while draining the cooked pasta from the pot. "Don't just come here unannounced. You guys are lucky I made extras."

"Neh, Lucy? Do you have fish?"

"Yeah, I'll get it for you. Can you take this out? I'll be there in a second," she handed the two plates of pasta towards Natsu, which he and the cat happily brought back towards the room.

* * *

They ate their dinner in a comfortable silence. Natsu sat across Lucy at the small dining table while Happy munched on his fish on the table. She twirled the pasta with her chopsticks, occasionally poking at the slices of meat. She wasn't the best cook but the years she spent in her old mansion had taught her some basic skills. In her early years at the mansion, her mother's death as well as her father's negligence of her presence made her craved for any companions she could sought but sometimes when night time dawned and she laid on her bed, staring up at the ceiling of her tasteful yet empty room, she realized then that there were just some things that can't replace loneliness.

"Lucy?"

She snapped her attention back at the voice. "Hm?"

"What's up? You seem out of it," Natsu replied as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Aye.." Happy chimed in. "Is it because of that thing with your keys?"

"U-uh, yeah."

"Huh. Didn't you summon that fish when we were in Hargeon?"

She widened her eyes in surprise. There was a possibility that her ineffective summoning could be one of the consequences of using the time spell with Lumen Histoire, or the Lucy in this timeline was just unable to use her keys, although she could now rule out the later due to the information that Natsu had just given her. "Hm... that's odd," she mumbled before diving into an explanation about her celestial spirit magic.

The momentary silence in the room was quickly broken up by the fire haired mage. "Let's form a team!"

"Eh? Why..? I won't be able to help much until I figured out what's wrong with my keys."

"Well, you're pretty nice, ya know? With the Macao and whatever." Lucy was sure it was actually the fact that she had given them food. _Twice_. "Weird, too. We can ask gramps about your keys later! So? What do you say?" he asked.

Lucy beamed at the both of them; her eyes sparkled at their genuine request. "Okay!" She nodded.

He grinned and waved a brown paper at her face. "Here's our first mission! We're leaving tomorrow."

Lucy snatched the paper. Her eyes scanned through the paper, making sure that it was the same mission she had done with them in the old timeline. It would be fairly easier to finish up the job now that she already knew what to expect, she thought. "Well, I guess it's fine but I won't be able to do much for now, especially when it comes to magic," Lucy reminded.

The two boys exchanged a look before Natsu let out a boisterous laugh. "Oh, you'll be helping out _a lot,"_ he smirked.

* * *

"Why won't you wear a maid outfit?!" a pink haired mage whined.

This was the tenth time he had asked her the same question and it was going to be the tenth and also the last time she planned to answer him. "I'm telling you, the owner of that mansion has a freaky definition of beauty!"

"How would you know? It's not like you know him."

"…Rumors," she mumbled.

Happy shrugged. "Lucy looks like a walking zombie anyway. I bet she'll scare off the pervert instead," he snickered with paws on his lips.

Lucy groaned in frustration. She knew the feline was referring to the dark circles evident underneath her eyes. She never had any issue with falling asleep, especially when in the comfort of her own bed but last night proved her wrong. She barely had a blink of sleep. After Natsu and Happy left her apartment, she had collapsed onto her bed in exhaustion but sleep never arrived. She was able to relax for a short while but as the long minutes dragged into longer hours, she grew tired of squirming and fidgeting on her bed. Ever since then, she had taken two long baths – the water was barely hot – and completed a few chapters of her novel. Her knowledge of the future made it easier for her to quickly finish up her novel. 'Come to think of it, the weather in Mount Hakobe didn't exactly felt as cold as she remembered,' she thought.

She had a lot of time for herself – _no thanks to her sleepless night_ – and had also tried to summon all six of her existing celestial spirits. It was a futile attempt as none of them appeared including the newly bought silver key. A sigh escaped her lips. She would need to talk to Mavis about this very soon but for now, she has a mission to complete and a golden key to retrieve. "Let's go in," Lucy whispered to the two boys. Before they could barge into the mansion, she quickly added, "like ninjas."

Natsu and Happy perked up at the suggestion and swiftly broke into a ninja stance as the trio sneaked their way into the mansion through one of the windows.

* * *

A yellow book was held tightly in the clutch of a blonde mage. The owner of the mansion, Everlue, had managed to catch up to her when she ran off with the Daybreak book. A fight was about to emerge between them but this time, Lucy won't able to fight alongside her celestial spirits. She needed to think quickly if she wanted to defeat him.

"Tell me the real secret of that damn book!" shouted the short, plump man in a black suit.

Before he could make his attack, she unbuckled the whip from her waist and lashed at him. He managed to dodge the attack – albeit barely – and sent the whip to bypass him instead. Lucy caught on his step quickly and in a second, she swiftly snapped back her whip before it collided with the man. The whip successfully coiled the man in captivity. She smirked at him, her eyes held a glint of victory. Everlue, however, decided that he was not about to lose his wealth nor pride because of a random nosy blonde mage in a skimpy outfit, quickly summoned a celestial spirit despite the twinge from his dangerously low magic reserve.

"Open, Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!" A bright glow appeared beside him before it transformed into a pink haired maid with two ponytails.

"You rang, Master?" The maid asked in a deep voice.

"Same magic as Lucy?!" shouted Happy. "...and Natsu? What are you doing here?"

Unfazed by the whole commotion of Natsu moving through the Celestial Spirit World with Virgo, Lucy only tightened her whip around the bald man. Her expression softened at the sight of the maid. When Team Natsu was infiltrating the mansion earlier, Lucy had managed to carry her team to dodge the supposed ambush by the blonde maids. This advantage gave the team to smoothly retrieve the book before the enemy appeared for the first time. While the masochist spirit was in a different form, she was finally meeting her for the first time since she went back in time. Lucy couldn't help but held a longing look at the celestial spirit before a voice snapped her back into reality.

"Lucy? What do I do?" Natsu asked in between the ruckus.

"R-right," she lightly coughed. "Do something about him!" She ordered, realizing that the old man had escaped from her grip.

"Virgo, exterminate these pests!"

"Understood!" The celestial spirit snapped towards the mages in front of her. Her eyes widened as her gaze landed on the blonde mage. "Princess..?"

 _Huh? Was she hearing things now?_ Lucy blinked as if coming out of a daze. "Virgo..?" She stuttered. "B-but… how..?"

Before the celestial spirit could answer, a blazing fire shot through the air and headed towards the maid's direction. Lucy's heart pounded at an increasingly rapid pace as she realized Natsu had begun his attack on the enemy. "Wait, Natsu!" She shrieked.

Her demand was a second too late as the fire met an impact with the celestial spirit, sending her full-forced through a wall along with its master that had caught up in between the attack. The pyromaniac mage broke from his fighting stance and took a side glance at his partner. "Huh? Why didn't you say that earlier?" He asked.

The building began to tremble from the damages of their battles, fragments of rocks and dusts fell from the ceiling. The mansion was about to crumble down any time soon. A sigh escaped her lips as she returned her partner's gaze. "Never mind. Let's get out of here," she replied, trying to shake off the disappointment in her voice.

* * *

Lucy sat at a bar with a smoothie in her hand. It has been a few days since her first mission with Natsu and Happy. Despite her partners' protest, she had insisted that they hang around the guild for a while – she reasoned them with her desire to get to know more of her guild mates. It wasn't necessarily a lie. Her awareness of the future events made her realized that she had taken granted of the time she spent with her family, so she simply wanted to make up to it before the tragedy unfolds, and also to meet the First Master as soon as possible – but they didn't have to know that extra bit.

"Ah, Loke!" Lucy shouted once she saw the orange haired mage in green parka walked into the guild. He turned around and returned her glance. Her face beamed as her lips curled up into a smile at the sight of her loyal spirit. She hasn't seen him in the guild ever since she left for Mount Hakobe with Natsu and Happy. Her shoulders felt lighter as she realized that the celestial spirit was still hanging around in the guild.

"Lucy... You seem oddly familiar." He shook his head. "Never mind that. How about we rekindle our memories by forming a team of love?" He draped an arm around her and pushed his glasses, sparkles twinkled around him.

"Wait Lo-"

His arm jerked back as he noticed the set of keys dangling on her waist. "Y-you're a Celestial Mage?"

"Yeah but-"

"Fate, what cruel tricks you play on me!"

"Loke, hear me ou-"

"I'm sorry! We're going to end it here for now!" He said before storming out from the guild hall.

Lucy watched him as the distance between them grew. She had intended to talk to him since Virgo seemed to remember something about her but apparently the lion spirit had a different approach to that. She hated seeing him in pain, especially when he was still banished from the Celestial Spirit World but the confrontation with the Celestial Spirit King was a risky move and she wasn't sure if approaching it at a different timing will have the same outcome.

"Loke has issues with Celestial Spirit Mages. There's a rumor that he had some women trouble a while back," said a voice from behind the bar counters.

She scrunched her brows together at the barmaid's statement and went back to her seat at the bar, sipping a mouthful of her drink. "I wish he could at least hold a simple conversation with me."

She was starting to get impatient with the lack of the First Master's presence. There were a lot of things that needed to be consulted. Her keys, next course of actions, and her inability to sleep. She had managed to handle the sleepless nights well, an exception for the first night. As long as she spent some time to relax, her body would be refreshed when daylight comes. Still, she had hoped that Mavis would know something about it, possibly a cure. Not that she minded the extra time from her sleepless nights but it would be nice to not be conscious twenty-four hours a day.

"Talking matchstick!"

"Talking underpants!"

"Birdbrain!"

"Slippery Bastard!"

She sighed as her eyes scanned through the guild hall. Her guild members were scattered all around the place. Most of them chatted with each other whereas people like Natsu and Gray had just started bickering with each other. She shook her head, slightly amused at them. If the timeline remained the same with the old one, Erza would reach the guild very soon which will immediately lead the completed Team Natsu to go for the lullaby mission. Her lips curled into a smile at the thought of the scarlet haired mage. In less than an hour, she was finally going to meet her sisterly figure. Until then, she still had some time to spare.

"Mira, is Master around?" Lucy asked. The barmaid was sitting beside her, taking a short break from her job since the rivalry between the fire and ice mages had turned into a huge brawl.

Mira shook her head. "He's on a meeting with the guild masters. If you would like to go for a mission, you can come to me about it instead."

Lucy acknowledged her reply with a hum. More people were starting to get involved in the brawl. She quickly sipped her drink before walking towards the stair on her right.

"You're leaving already, Lucy?"

Lucy lifted her hand and waved at the barmaid. "Nah, I'm just going to head downstairs. I'll be back soon!"

She stopped on her feet once they made an impact with the stone tiled floor. The guild basement was fairly huge, albeit deserted. Barrels piled up at one side with a few wooden crates. There were a few coarse wood beams around the room, holding the structure securely. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to Lucy.

She walked all around the room as she studied every little cracks. Her hand was placed against the wall – an attempt to sense any magic. She was sure that the stairs she had taken to go into the basement was the same staircase that took her to the secret underground room, which held Fairy Heart. The steps might have been shorter than before but the placement of the staircase was no doubt enough indication to assure Lucy that she was not delusional.

Lucy collapsed onto the ground with a scoff. Of course it wouldn't be easy to go downstairs; otherwise it wouldn't be secretive anymore. She ran her hand through her hair, her teeth gritted together. She had thought that since Mavis hasn't made her presence known, she would at least check up on her real body held inside the Fairy Heart. "So much of a plan, Lucy," she mumbled.

A loud thud slightly trembled the ceiling; no doubt the work of a certain scarlet mage dropping an enormous horn onto the guild hall's floor. She got up on her feet and dusted herself before making her way back upstairs.

"Natsu, Gray, I have a favor to ask," a scarlet haired mage said. "I heard a troubling story after I finished this job. Honestly speaking, this is something for Master to decide, but I want to settle it quickly so I decided myself. I want the two of you to lend me your powers. Will you come with me?"

The question was followed by murmurs between the guild members, while Natsu and Gray grudgingly looked at each other.

Despite the silence from the two boys, the scarlet mage continued, her firm tone unwavering. "We're leaving tomorrow morning. Make preparations."

Lucy's lips curled into a smile, face beamed with happiness. Erza was finally back.

* * *

 **A/N: What's this about Lucy's keys? Dun dun dun, the plot thickens! Now that I'm done writing this chapter - I had to rewrite it twice because I didn't really liked how it turned out, I can finally focus on the next chapter and I'm so excited about it! Thank you SO much for the favs, reviews and follows - it really motivates me to write faster! I hope you liked this chapter :)**

* * *

 **GotNoName123:** Ah, yes! She hasn't messed up too much yet since the outcome remained the same. Plus, Lucy's smart and would usually analyse her situations first before jumping into actions. But we'll just have to see what happens in the future events... ;)


End file.
